Kumu Kahua Theatre Launches 2024 Directing Course

Kumu Kahua Theatre is accepting applicants for a new directing course, the latest offering from its STAGES educational series presented free of charge for the community. Kumu Kahua Artistic Director, Harry Wong III, will teach the course with a focus on script study and critical analysis of productions. Applications will be accepted through December 20, 2023. The STAGES Aspiring Directors course will run throughout 2024.

A small group of students will be selected to receive training on ‘how to think like a director,' with the ultimate course goal of identifying and supporting burgeoning talent to become assistant directors – then directors – of upcoming Kumu Kahua Theatre productions and programs, and to broaden the pool of experienced theatre directors in Hawaiʻi. Students will read and dissect scripts, then view and discuss productions of those scripts at various theatres on O‘ahu. The course will consist of five three-hour sessions instructed by Wong, in addition to the time required for viewing and analyzing productions.

“I've had the pleasure to see Harry's growth as a director for over three decades in work at UHM, Hawaiʻi Shakespeare Festival, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and Kumu Kahua,” said Lurana Donnels O'Malley, Professor of Theatre/Director of Graduate Studies in Theatre at University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa, and director for Kumu Kahua Theatre's upcoming premiere of Aitu Fafine. “As a director, Harry thinks and creates in all dimensions. He is philosophical, he is visual, and he is always aware of how the audience fits into the story. His choices are theatrical, but they always serve the story.”

Students of various levels of experience are invited to apply to the STAGES Aspiring Directors course, and selected students will receive free instruction. There will also be three slots available for individuals wishing to audit the class at a cost of $300. To be considered for the course, applicants must complete this form and upload their resume by December 20, 2023. Selected students will receive further information on the course work which will begin in late January, 2024.

For more information on STAGES for Aspiring Directors and Kumu Kahua Theatre's ongoing productions that have been Keeping it Local Since 1971, please visit www.kumukahua.org.

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by the NME Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the Island Insurance Foundation, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaiʻi, The AAPI Community Fund, The Richard Aadland Fund, The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawaiʻi Public Radio, H. Hawaii Media, Simply Storage, The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, Vacations Hawaiʻi, Zippy's Restaurants, Highway Inn, Generations Magazine, CVS/Longs Drugs, HMSA, Hawaiian Electric, MonkeyPod, Edric Sakamoto, Ron and Rachel Heller, Leonard and Charlotte Chow, and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.

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